Below the Stars
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: Even if she may not immediately understand fully what her father is saying, a young Tiana always listens to him.


Even from the living room, Tiana could feel the warmth of the oven. It warmed her arms, which were completely uncovered. The sleeves of the dress that her mother had made her, turning scraps of old green fabric into pure beauty as if by magic, only came down to a little past her shoulders. The smell of gumbo cooking filled her nose, and her mouth watered.

Sprawled out on the floor, she had her dolls and stuffed animals propped up at her sides. "Now Amelia," she said, waving an old wooden spoon at a stuffed elephant. Its ears were floppy, and its body drooped slightly. "You said that you would finish some things for me." Putting her hand up to her head, she adjusted the paper crown on her head, making sure that it didn't fall off.

The elephant remained still. Tiana's eyes passed over her other toys.

Her mother sat on the couch, a book in her hands. Occasionally, she would look down and smile at the girl on the floor.

Her eyes passed over to a doll that her mother had made her as a birthday gift. It was a rag doll, made of dark brown fabric for the skin, green cloth for the dress, and had old black yarn as the hair. It sat leaning next to a stuffed teddy bear with shiny black button eyes.

"Do you two need anything?" Tiana's voice softened, and she lowered her spoon. Unlike Amelia, these two toys were dependable.

Just as she grabbed one and was about to pretend to make it talk, footsteps filled the kitchen and entered into the living room. "Now what do we have here?"

Tiana turned, dropping the toy back on the ground without a care. Her father towered over the small girl, and she looked up to see his smiling face. Running up to him, she wrapped him in a warm hug, squeezing him as tightly as she could with her small arms.

"Daddy, you're just in time to meet my subjects."

"Subjects?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Tiana said, trying to speak in that matter of fact tone that adults had. "I am their princess and I have power over them."

He chuckled, and ran a hand through his daughter's hair. "You were playing this with Charlotte earlier, weren't you?"

Tiana nodded, but put her hands on her hips. "So?"

"So," he replied, "I should have figured that she would have filled your head with that fairy tale nonsense again."

Tiana rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "You know, Tiana-"

"Fairy tales aren't real." The young girl spoke with practice, reciting the speech easily as she had done what felt like hundreds of times before. "The only way to get anywhere in this world is through hard work." At the end, she sighed.

"It's true." Her father chuckled. "But don't worry, you'll still get to be the boss of people one day."

"Huh?"

"That's what you do when you run and own a restaurant."

"So it's like being a princess?"

"I'd say that's the closest thing you can get in this country."

At those words, Tiana's mother laughed and looked up from the book that she had been reading.

"In fact," he said, a wide smile forming across his face, "it's even better than being a princess,"

Tiana's brown eyes widened. "It is?"

He nodded. "It has lots more food,"

Tiana grinned. "Really?"

"Would I ever lie to you?" He patted her shoulder before turning and heading back to the kitchen to check on dinner.

Tiana looked back down to her toys. "Amelia," she said in a sharp voice, pointing her spoon to the toy elephant. "I never said to make that dish!" Looking back to her other toys, she began to wave her spoon at them and instruct them on how to work in her imaginary kitchen. It ended with her stirring at the air with her spoon and complaining about how she did all the work around there.

When she tired of her game and the rumbling of her stomach became impossible to ignore, she stood up and walked inside of the kitchen.

"I'm almost there," her father said, smiling down at her from beside the stove. "Dinner will be ready soon."

Tiana rubbed her belly. "I'm hungry."

"Me too, sweetie, me too." He stirred the gumbo pot once more. "So, is it fun being a restaurant owner?"

"Yes, but it would be more fun if my workers actually listened to me."

"Oh, I bet it would." He patted her on the head.

"Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" He looked back down to her, his brown eyes locked on her face.

"Even if fairy tales aren't real, I'm still your princess." Tiana looked down to her hands, which were tightly locked together. Her voice trembled slightly, it's usual determined tone gone. "Right?"

Her father leaned down, getting on his knees so that he would be eye level with her. "Of course, dear." He pulled her into a warm hug. "Nothing would ever change that."


End file.
